Star hits out at Home and Away racism

Georgia Wilkins

Two of Australian TV’s most high-profile actors have criticised commercial networks for failing to back shows that reflect the racial diversity of contemporary Australian society.

Firass Dirani, who stars in new ABC drama The Straits, yesterday told Fairfax that major networks did not create roles for people from a broad range of cultural backgrounds.

And that prompted New Zealand actor Jay Laga’aia, recently cut from the cast of long-running soap Home and Away, to rail against perceived racism in Australian television, making his rage known in three angry tweets that included an attack on Channel Seven.

As someone who lost his job on H&A because they couldnt write two ethnics that weren't together, I'd like a chance to ply my trade freely.

Dirani, who came to prominence in Channel Nine’s Underbelly: The Golden Mile, said characters on Australian TV programs did not reflect the nation’s racial mix.

‘‘When you walk down Sydney streets you see so many different cultures and so many different people. Our TVs haven’t reflected that yet,’’ he said.

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‘‘American TV, British TV, have shows with different nationalities — and they’re not just putting different nationalities up for a point of difference, they’re creating work that caters for actors of different backgrounds.’’

Laga’aia criticised the networks for producing what he described as mono-racial content.